


The Start

by capncosmo



Category: Yamada Tarou Monogatari | The Story of Yamada Taro (TV)
Genre: Asexual Character, Asexuality, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-06-10
Updated: 2008-06-10
Packaged: 2017-10-18 02:23:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/183931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/capncosmo/pseuds/capncosmo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Trying to get to bottom of how all this started is a little more difficult than you might imagine.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Start

**Author's Note:**

> _Genkan_ = place just inside the doorway where you take off shoes. _Furoshiki_ = Big cloth used for carrying things (often green with white spirals). Original Japanese for one scene and explanation included at the end. Also, please feel free to ignore the narrator; I have it on good authority she thinks she’s rather clever, which of course means she’s not.

*****  
It started like this:  
*****

“Um, Mimura-kun?” Tarou began, fidgeting a little bit. He hadn’t really needed to get Takuya’s attention, given that it was already on him, but it helped him stall, because he really didn’t want to ask and have Takuya laugh at him (except he would, Tarou knew he would, either for saying something so outrageous or for being so dense). But, Tarou though, taking a mental breath, this shouldn’t be the kind of thing he had to ask to find out, especially after all this time, but he also wasn’t so stupid as to think Takuya would just come out and say it.

He noticed Takuya was staring, and figured he had better say something, even if he had to just blurt it out. So he did.

“Are we dating?”

 

*****  
But that really started like this:  
******

Takako was mad, and Tarou could tell because he was within 20 meters of her. As he warily approached the partially ajar classroom door, two things became clear: 1) Takako was mad at Takuya; 2) They were talking (yelling) about him.

“I thought you were on my side!” Takako tried in what sounded like a last-ditch effort. Her back was to the door.

“I am on your side,” Mimura returned calmly from his perch on the desks. “Look at how much you’ve matured over the last few years.” He caught Tarou’s eye from where he was lurking at the door, and smiled a little.

“I meant about _Yamada-kun_. Does he even realize you’re trying to date--?”

“Suzumura from Law likes you, you know,” Takuya cut her off.

Tarou knew Suzumura as a year their senior, captain of the soccer team, and heir to Japan’s top flour company. _A flour company_. He could see why Takako stopped, her tone changing, “He does?” Takuya nodded. “Really?” Takuya nodded again. “Well, then, in that case…. I’ll forgive you, assuming you’re telling the truth.”

Takako skipped out of the room, presumably to find Suzumura, giving Tarou barely enough time to flatten himself against the wall and miss being bowled over.

 

******  
Which was, in fact, a continuation of this:  
******

Tarou was on his way to the lab, which he had promised he’d clean in exchange for the latest batch of still-oranges (useless to the team trying to create a hybrid, but perfect for next week’s lunches), when he overheard several female voices he recognized as belonging to a group of girls in his history class.

“You should just ask him,” Emiri was saying.

“But isn’t he with Mimura-kun?” asked Asami.

“That’s what I heard,” Ibuki added quickly.

“I just never would have figured Yamada-kun as having that kind of interest,” Umi said.

While it was true that Takuya _had_ had to talk him into doing Papua New Guinea, they really should have tried to form groups for their history project before _now_ , so Tarou just kept walking.

 

*****  
Precipitated by this:  
*****

Takuya sighed as he slumped into his seat next to Tarou. He continued to look gloomy as he pulled out his books and pens.

“Mimura-kun?” Tarou asked, concerned.

When Takuya looked up, he was back to his usual poker face. “My grandfather,” he began, and Tarou began to suspect he was pausing for effect, “is making me visit several restaurants to see which he should choose to cater the school’s end of year banquet.”

Tarou couldn’t see any hardship in being made to eat (presumably) delicious food, and said so.

“The problem is,” Takuya explained, “I have to try _all_ the main dishes. There’s just no way I could eat all that food by myself.”

“You definitely can’t waste all that!”

“I know. It could probably feed at least 9 people,” Takuya said significantly.

“Well, if you wanted, I could come with you,” Tarou offered.

Takuya just smiled in return

 

*****  
Not that it didn’t help there was this:  
*****

“Mimura-kun!” Tarou looked around nervously, not able to locate a clock but aware of the time all the same.

Takuya, however, was taking his sweet time. “I really don’t think—”

The instant he had his shoes on, however, Tarou grabbed his hand and started pulling. “We’re going to be late!”

In his haste, he missed Takuya’s surprise soften into a smile and his hand tighten around Tarou’s in return.

 

*****  
Or this:  
*****

Tarou hovered over the rather large _furoshiki_ that was now packed with leftovers, eyes wide with glee. “Everyone’s going to be so happy!” He grinned up at Takuya, then stood himself and grabbed his friend in a hug. “Thank you!”

 

*****  
(Though, in truth, one could trace it to this:)  
*****

“Um,” Takuya said, a little worried about how Tarou’s six siblings had surrounded him while he was still half in the _genkan_. “Yamada-kun is…?”

“He’s just in the back,” said Yoshiko.

“We need to talk to you first,” said Itsuko.

Takuya nodded warily.

“Mimura-an-chan,” Jirou began seriously. “We like you a lot.”

“Lots,” added Mutsumi.

“A whole bunch,” concluded Nanami.

“I like you all a lot, too,” Takuya returned, confused.

“But you like An-chan the most,” Saburou said, “And he likes you the most.”

Takuya, beginning to get a shrewd idea of where this was headed, asked, “What would you suggest?”

“That’s up to you—” Jiro said, still looking stern.

“Although we could give you some ideas!” Yoshiko and Itsuko put in cheerfully.

“—but ultimately, we think you should be happy.”

 

*****  
Looking back, though, they’d say it began like this:  
*****

“Um, Mimura-kun? Are we dating?”

Takuya laughed, and Tarou had _totally_ called it. He stood there, turning redder and redder, until Takuya was able to get a hold of himself. “Are we?” Takuya asked annoyingly, but Tarou was beginning to (finally) figure Takuya out, and he knew what he was really being asked.

“Well, I guess you’d probably be lonely otherwise, so if you wanted to, sure.”

Takuya grinned in return.

 

*****  
The same way it always begins.  
*****

**Author's Note:**

> So, as usual, I thought up some snappy dialogue that is difficult to translate. I will therefore illuminate any poor soul that wanders over pretending to care.
> 
> The girls in the hallway:
> 
> Asami: できてんじゃん?　御村君と。  
> Ibuki: そう聞いたわよ。  
> Umi: あぁ、山田君がそんな興味あったと思わなかった・・・
> 
> This exchange utilizes two euphemisms Tarou takes at face value. The first, できる, is a word for "make" (kind of) that is often used in the same way we would use "getting together." The second, そんな興味, lit. "that kind of interest" is a roundabout way of referring (in this context) to having an interest in men as opposed to women. But you could just as easily hear this and think partners on group project. So, NOW YOU KNOW.


End file.
